Kalalau Trail, Kauai, Hawaii

Napali Coast - Kalalau Trail

It all started with the wife and I planning a get away vacation.  She had always wanted to go to Hawaii, so as soon as she settled on Kauai I started looking for a trail.  I figured I could have one afternoon to burn, right? After doing some research, the only trail with any distance was the Kalalau trail.  There were others listed, but were either paved or too short to make the journey worth it.  Besides, looking back, running on that island is suicide with the traffic and roads.  And who wants to run roads on vacation?  I would rather take my chances with my pasty white skin and no sun screen on the beach.   (Which btw is another funny story, but maybe later).

Kalalau from the top

Facts about the trail:

• Location: Kauai, Hawaii
• Length 11 miles one way (To the Kalalau River, not the beach)
• Rainforest and arid landscapes
• Numerous stream crossings
• Steep exposed sections
• There are "permanent residents" camped throughout
• A camping permit is required
• 6,526 feet gain over the loop of the trail

Kalalau Trail

Preparation

So I Googled the crud out of this trail trying to pull more than just tourist facts about the trail.  There were numerous accounts on blogs of the trail describing its beauty and difficulties of the terrain.  The one thing I could not find however was an account of someone running the trail.  Which kind of freaked me out, but there are Strava segments, so why should I worry right? I felt confident in my assessment and a month out I emailed the Hawaii State Parks to inquire if I needed a permit.  After some arguing, it turns out that you need one even for a day trip, no exceptions.  The nice lady even did her best to give me a stern warning about what I was thinking about doing.  I did my best to prepare before packing our bags, projecting my needs and possible timing of which I estimated around 5-6 hours.

Me at the start

On your mark get set GO!

Well the chosen day had arrived, with only minor sunburns.  We left the Cottage in Lihue around 6 am and headed north towards Ke'e beach.  The forecast called for scattered showers throughout the day, but in Kauai it rains every day with an annual average rainfall of 460 inches.  I packed light, taking my AK vest w/ 2 bottles, sun glasses, hat, MSR tabs, and nutrition (5 gels and food). Steph had decided that she wanted to see the first part of the trail to Hanakapi'al so we set off together.

Her first question to me was: "Your going to run this?" It wasn't that it was a mountain trail or even the rocks or cliff's.  It was the condition of the trail.  It was mud.  Solid mud and mud puddles, mud covered rocks and roots.  It was so bad that people were putting leaves from the plants surrounding the trail to try to cover the mud.  It was just a huge muddy mess.  And then it started to rain.  After getting a mile into the trail we were able to find some more manageable sections heading down to the beach.  It seemed things would get better for the rest of my trip.

Hanakapi'al

After walking around the beach and exploring a bit, I contemplated just spending the day there, but I was committed and said goodbye to Steph and headed up the "Permit Only" section of the trail.  Trail conditions had not improved much from the initial hike/run in.  The scenery was amazing and made me just keep going searching for what was around the next corner.  The trail here was mixed wet and dry usually littered with leaves and guava fruit which combined maintained and sketchy trail sections with steep climbs/drops and big rock.  The rain came on hard at times making running near impossible on the good sections.  The nice thing about the rain is you really didn't need much protection since almost everything is inevitably wet anyway, so I decided not to take my rain jacket.

The experience

The experience of running through a rain forest was alien to me.  The senses, sights and sounds were so different from running in the Wasatch.  The sheer amount of trees and the sea of green. Occasionally a fruit or coconut would come crashing down through the trees and scare the crap out of me and make me laugh at my own jumpiness. The expanse of the ocean that stretched out without any end.   The sound of the waves would boom against the cliffs like the howitzers at Camp Williams. Water falls were everywhere in the cliffs above the trail.  The many streams and river giving sound to the quietness of forest.  The sound of the rain hitting all the trees above me.  The guava fruit was so fragrant, especially when smashed into the trail.  The flies loved them and would swarm everywhere when you approached. The old stone structures and terraces gave a sense of history to the trail. In my head I imagined running with ancient Hawaiians on this very same trail. 

Running on a coast line was so different from anything else. You can see the trail off in the distance on the far canyon wall, but to get there you have to descend and move into the canyon and the ascend and move out.   It played tricks with my mind the entire length of the trail especially at the end. The differences between the valleys and the cliffs was even more pronounced by the change from jungle and rock scrambling to exposed cliffs and very little cover.  

As I dropped down into Hanakoa I found other hikers at the campsites by the river.  I stopped ate a GU and chatted for a bit with a couple of people.  Everyone asked how long I was planning on staying. Apparently carrying next to nothing didn't tip them off, and most people refused to believe I was making a day trip. One other thing I had noticed in some of the other smaller valleys but especially in the Hanakoa valley was the overgrown agriculture terraces from when the valley used to be inhabited.
  

At Hanakoa the weather had changed, the clouds had moved off and the sun came beating down.  The heat also started to really come into play here.  Rounding the corner out of the valley I could tell the terrain was starting to change to a more arid look and feel.

The more arid section.

The next section is especially known for its steepness and cliffs.  Little to no vegetation was present and some of the exposure was quite unnerving at times.  Loose rock, cliff and only ocean below made it one of the more memorable sections.  I was so mad that after making back through this section that I didn't take any pictures so have a look at these ones for a good idea.   It reminded me a lot of peak scrambling.  

The next section it was getting hot and the humidity was up (85%).  I had almost gone through my 2 water bottles and was looking forward to resting at the beach that I could see off in the distance.  Down a ways below was a more secluded beach mostly blocked by the cliffs, which had some people tanning al-natural.

Pu'ukulua (Red Hill) (You can see this at the bottom in the rainbow picture)

After descending a very steep red dirt hill you end up at the Kalalau River which is a very nice tropical oasis after coming through the hot dry part of the trail from Hanakoa.  My first impression was to jump into one of the pools to cool off, but a sign on the hill quickly stopped me before I managed to get in. The river is the only source of water for the local inhabitants of the valley so they want to keep it as clean as possible. The river is also the official end of the Kalalau trail at 11 miles. The beach is another 1-2 miles further down.  Which is where the approved camping sites also are. I was tired and hungry but I wanted to see the beach, so I continued on down the trail until my shoes touched the sand.  It was just so hot I wanted to sit in the shade, so I snapped a picture and headed back as quick to the stream as quickly as I could.

Kalalau Beach

This is where it gets interesting!

Well I though I had planned well.  I had just enough water for lunch and I was 3 hours into my adventure feeling hot but good.  I unstrapped by pack filled a water bottle and dropped a MSR tab into it to have more water for when I finished my lunch. Opening my pack I had a very big "Oh Crap" moment.  There was nothing else in the back besides my sunglasses and phone.  My mind quickly reviewed the morning and packing.  Nope I forgot my sandwich, which just happened to be part of my nutrition that I was going to use for the run.  

Slightly panicked I took a quick inventory of the situation and came to the obvious conclusion.  I was going to bonk and bonk hard on this run.  I had three gu's left.  Two of which I had for lunch and was going to save the other one for the run out.  I finished off what water I had left and realized that I was more dehydrated than I originally thought.  Crap I though to myself, the tabs take 40 minutes to work fully and I only have one bottle at 10 minutes.  Doing the math and knowing the time that I told Steph I would be back, I had to get going.  I filled the other bottle and put in a tab and headed back up Red Hill.  

On the way back to Hanakoa I stopped and said a quick prayer, to give thanks for the opportunity that I had been given to run in such a beautiful place.  I think I might have also been asking for something similar to Jesus and the Loaves and Fishes.  Begin the slog fest! I began passing people that I had seen on the way in.  Saying hi I just kept trying to keep moving as fast as I could, running when I felt like it on the good trail.  The heat hit hard on the cliffs section, I downed almost all of one bottle and was almost done with my second by the time I hit the Hanakoa stream.  At the stream I just stood there for a while, and then jumped into a pool and sat down.  The water was like magic giving life to my tired legs.  I filled one bottle downed my last gu and charged on determined to make it back to Steph by my estimated time.  

The way back.

Remember what I was saying about the valleys?  In the picture above you can see the tip of Ke'e beach (trail start).  What you don't see is all the valleys in between.  Each time I rounded a corner I could tell I was getting closer, but only in baby steps. The guava fruit that was smashed on the trail was so fragrant that it made me sick when I could smell it.  Each stream I came across I sat in try to cool off and give me new life.  All I wanted to see was the Hanakapi'al beach and to know that I only had 2 miles to go. Each climb up from a valley was steep and the sun was beating down.  My pace was slowing dramatically too.  The uphills were now just a steady hike pausing in the shade where I could find it.  

I deliriously kept telling myself that Steph had hiked back into Hanakapi'al and was waiting there with a cheese burger and coke.  Hey whatever works right? No such luck :) Instead I plunged into the river and laid down much to the amusement of all the tourists around.  Knowing that there was only two miles left was a blessing and a curse.  I was toast.  Most people probably thought I was crazy thinking I had only gone in two miles to the beach and looking so trashed. 

23 miles

Once I could see Ke'e beach I knew I was in the home stretch and I moved as fast as I could down the wet rocky trail.  Once I hit the end of the trail I looked for Steph.  She waved to me from the beach prompting me to come over.  I promptly crashed on a cement bench and laid down, exhausted.  I had done it. Something that I was looking forward to for most of the summer.  I finished my adventure run. It was magnificent, beautiful, crazy, and emotional.  I knew without a doubt that I had left it all out on the trail that day. The Kalalau trail lived up the toughness that everyone had described and will forever be etched in my memory as one of the best runs I have ever had. I even got to run with the love of my life!

And to top the whole day off we had dinner watching the sunset. What an awesome vacation!

Mahalo nui loa Kauai